The Well-Tempered Ear
Too bad the Wisconsin Union Theater didn’t book a great pianist for next season
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By Jacob Stockinger
“We are living in a Golden Age of pianists,” famed concert pianist, Juilliard teacher and frequent Madison performer Emanuel Ax (below) has said.
He should know. But you would never guess that from the recently announced next season at the Wisconsin Union Theater (below).
The WUT has not booked a solo pianist for the 2022-23 season.
Here is a link to the lineup for the next season:
https://union.wisc.edu/visit/wisconsin-union-theater/seasonevents/
Is The Ear the only one who has noticed and is disappointed?
Who else feels bad about it?
After all, this is the same presenting organization that brought to Madison such legendary pianists as Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ignaz Jan Paderewski, Percy Grainger, Arthur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Dame Myra Hess, Guiomar Novaes, Egon Petri, Robert Casadesus, William Kapell, Claudio Arrau, Alexander Brailowsky, Gary Graffman, Glenn Gould, Rosalyn Tureck, Byron Janis, Misha Dichter, Peter Serkin, André Watts, Lili Kraus and Garrick Ohlsson
It is the same hall (below) in which The Ear has heard Rudolf Serkin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Angela Hewitt, Alfred Brendel, Murray Perahia, Valentina Lisitsa, Andras Schiff, Joyce Yang, Yefim Bronfman, Jeremy Denk, Ingrid Fliter, Richard Goode, Leon Fleisher, Simone Dinnerstein, Wu Han and so many other great and memorable names including, of course, Emanuel Ax.
What a history!
As you can see and as The Ear likes to say, the Wisconsin Union Theater is “The Carnegie Hall of Madison.” For over 100 years, it is where the great ones play.
One irony is that many of those former bookings of pianists took place when the University of Wisconsin School of Music had many more pianists on the faculty and provided a major alternative venue for piano recitals.
Another irony is that so many young people take piano lessons (below) and are apt to want to attend, probably with their parents, to hear a live professional concert piano recital. You would think the WUT would also see the advantages of having such community outreach links to the public and to music education, especially since the WUT has hosted Open Piano Day for the public. (See the YouTube video of a Channel 3000 story in February 2020 at the bottom.)
From what The Ear reads, there are lots of up-and-coming pianists, many affordable names of various winners of national and international competitions. They should be affordable as well as worthy of being introduced to the Madison public.
But that seems a mission now largely left to the Salon Piano Series.
Plus, so many of the new pianists are young Asians who have never appeared here, which should be another draw for the socially responsible and diversity-minded WUT.
But that is another story for another day.
What do you think of the WUT not presenting a solo pianist next season?
Maybe there will be a pianist booked for the 2023-24 season.
What pianists would you like see booked by the WUT student programming committee?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Today – Monday, March 22 — is Day 6 of the 2021 online Bach Around the Clock festival. The program features string, keyboard, percussion and vocal music with some interesting transcriptions
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By Jacob Stockinger
Yesterday – Sunday, March 21 — was the actual birthday, the 336th, of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).
But the 10-day virtual and online celebration being held by Bach Around the Clock (BATC) continues.
Here are the pieces and performers that will take place.
The Ear is especaially pleased by some of the transcriptions, which offer more proof of just how indestructible and versatile Bach’s music remains.
Particularly interesting is the string quartet version of the famous cantata “Wachet auf” (Sleepers, Wake) and the Three-Part Inventions or Sinfonias transcribed for marimba, and played by Sean Kleve (below), a UW-Madison graduate who performs with the critically acclaimed experimental Madison-based percussion ensemble Clocks in Motion.
Monday’s program is available starting at 8 a.m.
Click here and scroll down to Day 6 to view.
Performers
• Minuet 2 in G Major, Anh 116; Suite in G Minor, BWV 822; Gavotte from Double Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1043, I. Vivace. Suzuki Strings Sonora Ensemble
• Cantata 140: “Wachet Auf” (Sleeper, Wake), arranged for string quartet. St. Croix Valley String Quartet: Janette Cysewski and Debbie Lanzen, violins; Dianne Wiik, viola; and Joel Anderson, cello.
• French Suite No. 3 in B Minor for keyboard, BWV 814: Sarabande, Anglaise, Menuett and Trio. Kris Sankaran
• Sinfonia 1 in C Major, BWV 787; Sinfonia 7 in E Minor, BWV 793; Sinfonia 10 in G Major, BWV 796; Sinfonia 11 in G Minor, BWV 797; Sinfonia 15 in B Minor, BWV 801. Sean Kleve, marimba. (You can hear Glenn Gould playing the original version of the first Sinfonia in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
• Chorale: We thank Thee, Lord, for sending. Katie Hultman, soprano, and Kenneth Stancer, organ
Live and Recorded Evening Program at 7 p.m.
Click here and scroll down to Day 6 to view.
BATC audiences will remember pianist Lawrence Quinnett (below) from his exquisite renderings of selections from The Well-Tempered Clavier, at the 2018 Festival.
Quinnett, on the piano faculty of Livingstone College, returns in 2021 to give a brief talk on his approach to ornamentation in the six French Suites, as a prelude to his live performance of Suite No. 5. The floor will open for questions, followed by Quinnett’s recorded performance of the remaining five Suites.
Tags: #BachAroundtheClock, #BachCantata, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOrnamentation, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #CityofMadison, #ClocksinMotion, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DoubleConcerto, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FrenchSuite, #GlennGould, #JacobStockinger, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #KeyboardMusic, #LawrenceQuinnett, #LiveMusic, #LiveStreaming, #LivingstoneCollege, #MadisonWisconsin, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicEducation, #OnlineConcert, #OnlineFestival, #PercussionEnsemble, #PercussionMusic, #RecordedMusic, #SeanKleve, #Sleeps, #SonoraStrings, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #SuzukiMethod, #SuzukiStrings, #TheEar, #TheUW, #TheWell-TemperedClavier, #Three-PartInvention, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VirtualConcert, #VirtualFestival, #WachetAuf, #Well-TemperedClavier, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, 1685\2021, Anglaise, answer, approach, arrange, arrangement, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Baroque, BATC, birthday, blog, Blog post, blog posting, brief, BWV, Cantata, celebration, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, channel, choral music, Chorale, Christ, Classical music, classicalmusic, clavier, Clocks in Motion, composer, Concert, concerto, continue, critically acclaimed, day, double, double concerto, Early music, evening, experimental, exquisite, Facebook, faculty, famous, festival, floor, forward, French, French Suite, Gavotte, Glenn Gould, harpsichord, harpsichordist, indestructible, interesting, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Johann Sebastian Bach, Keyboard, Lawrence Quinnett, like, link, live, live music, livestream, Livingstone College, Lord, Madison, major, march, marimba, marimbist, Mead Witter School of Music, menuett, minor, morning, Music, Music education, offer, online, open, ornamentation, percussion, Percussion Ensemble, Percussion music, perform, performer, Pianist, Piano, piece, play, please, pleased, professor, program, proof, Q&A, question-and-answer, questions, recorded, recorded music, remain, renderings, return, sarabande, Sean Kleve, selection, share, sinfonia, Sleepers, Sonora Strings, start, string music, String quartet, Student, subscriber, Suite, Suzuki Method, Suzuki Strings, tag, talk, temper, thank, The Ear, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Thee, Three-Part Invention, transcribed, transcription, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, versatile, video, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtual, vivace, vocal music, Wachet auf, Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme, wake, Well-Tempered Clavier, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Here is the music that Wisconsin Public Radio hosts find calming and inspiring during the pandemic. What music would you list?
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By Jacob Stockinger
One of the major sources of music during the COVID-19 public health crisis and the coronavirus pandemic is Wisconsin Public Radio.
The Ear finds WPR a reliable source of beauty and companionship during this difficult time of self-isolation and self-quarantining required by the state’s stay-at-home and self-distancing orders.
Each host plans and broadcasts hours of classical music each day. So they hear a lot of classical music.
They also contribute to a blog that offers insights to: new and old recordings; background information about the composers, music and performers; and personal observations about classical music.
Recently, the radio hosts – including Stephanie Elkins (below), Norman Gilliland, Lori Skelton, Ruthanne Bessman, Anders Yocom (at bottom, in a photo by James Gill) and Peter Bryant — listed the music that they find particularly calming and inspiring during a difficult and anxiety-ridden time.
The names of composers include Bach, Scarlatti, Mendelssohn, Mahler, Ysaye, Vaughan-Williams and film score master John Williams.
The list includes audio-visual performances of the pieces.
Take a look and listen.
Then tell us what you think of the various suggestions and which ones you prefer?
Also leave the composers, pieces and performers that you would add to such a list, with a YouTube link if possible.
Here is a link:
https://www.wpr.org/wpr-music-hosts-share-music-calms-and-inspires
Tags: #AndersYocom, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloMusic, #COVID-19, #DomenicoScarlatti, #EugeneYsaye, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FilmMusic, #FilmScore, #GlennGould, #GustavMahler, #HarpMusic, #HarryPotter, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnWilliams, #LeonardBernstein, #LoriSkelton, #MovieMusic, #MovieScore, #NormanGilliland, #PeterBryant, #PianoMusic, #PublicBroadcastingSystem, #PublicHealth, #RalphVaughanWilliams, #RuthanneBessman, #Self-Isolation, #Self-Quarantine, #StephanieElkins, #TheEar, #ViolinMusic, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisocnsinPublicRadio, #YouTubevideo, Anders Yocom, anxiety, Bach, background, beauty, blog, Broadcast, calm, calming, Cello, cello music, Classical music, companion, companionship, composer, coronavirus, difficukt, Domenico Scarlatti, Eugene Ysaye, Facebook, Felix Mendelssohn, film, forward, Glenn Gould, Gustav Mahler, harp, Harry Potter, Health, host, hours, inspiration, inspire, inspiring, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, like, link, Lori Skelton, major, Mendelssohn, movie, Music, new, Norman Gilliland, NPR, observation, old, online, Orchestra, pandemic, performer, personal, Peter Bryant, Piano, piano music, plan, post, posting, public, Public health, Radio, Ralph Vaughan Williams, recording, Recordings, reliable, require, Ruthanne Bessman, Scarlatti, Self-Quarantining, share, solo, Sonata, source, state, stay at home, Stephanie Elkins, Suite, symphony, tag, The Ear, time, vaughan williams, Violin, violin music, Website, Williams, wisconsin public radio, WPR, YouTube
Classical music: Here are the classical music winners of the 2018 Grammy Awards.
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By Jacob Stockinger
This posting is both a news story and a gift guide of sorts about recordings you might like to give or get.
It features the classical music nominations for and winners of the Grammy Awards, which were just announced this past Sunday night.
Read them and in the COMMENT section what you think of the recordings that you know and which ones you think deserved to win. (The Ear got about half right.)
You can also encouraged to comment on the Grammys in general.
NOTE: THE WINNERS HAVE AN ASTERISK AND A PHOTO, AND ARE BOLDFACED
HISTORICAL ALBUMS:
- “The Goldberg Variations — the Complete Unreleased Recording Sessions June 1955” — Robert Russ, compilation producer; Matthias Erb, Martin Kistner & Andreas K. Meyer, mastering engineers (Glenn Gould)
- *”Leonard Bernstein — the Composer” (below) — Robert Russ, compilation producer; Martin Kistner & Andreas K. Meyer, mastering engineers (Leonard Bernstein)
ENGINEERED ALBUM, CLASSICAL
- “Danielpour: Songs of Solitude & War Songs” — Gary Call, engineer (Thomas Hampson, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
- “Kleiberg: Mass for Modern Man” — Morten Lindberg, engineer (Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Trondheim Vokalensemble & Trondheim Symphony Orchestra)
- “Schoenberg, Adam: American Symphony; Finding Rothko; Picture Studies” — Keith O. Johnson & Sean Royce Martin, engineers (Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony)
- *”Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio” (below) — Mark Donahue, engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
- “Tyberg: Masses” — John Newton, engineer; Jesse Brayman, mastering engineer (Brian A. Schmidt, Christopher Jacobson & South Dakota Chorale)
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, CLASSICAL
- Blanton Alspaugh
- Manfred Eicher
- *David Frost (below)
- Morten Lindberg
- Judith Sherman
ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE
- “Concertos for Orchestra” — Louis Langrée, conductor (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)
- “Copland: Symphony No. 3; Three Latin American Sketches” — Leonard Slatkin, conductor (Detroit Symphony Orchestra)
- “Debussy: Images; Jeux & La Plus Que Lente” — Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
- “Mahler: Symphony No. 5” — Osmo Vänskä, conductor (Minnesota Orchestra)
- *”Shostakovich (below): Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio” — Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
OPERA RECORDING
- “Berg: Lulu” — Lothar Koenigs, conductor; Daniel Brenna, Marlis Petersen & Johan Reuter; Jay David Saks, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra)
- *”Berg: Wozzeck” (below) — Hans Graf, conductor; Anne Schwanewilms & Roman Trekel; Hans Graf, producer (Houston Symphony; Chorus of Students and Alumni, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University & Houston Grand Opera Children’s Chorus)
- “Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de Perles” — Gianandrea Noseda, conductor; Diana Damrau, Mariusz Kwiecień, Matthew Polenzani & Nicolas Testé; Jay David Saks, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
- “Handel: Ottone” — George Petrou, conductor; Max Emanuel Cencic & Lauren Snouffer; Jacob Händel, producer (Il Pomo D’Oro)
- “Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel” — Valery Gergiev, conductor; Vladimir Feliauer, Aida Garifullina & Kira Loginova; Ilya Petrov, producer (Mariinsky Orchestra; Mariinsky Chorus)
CHORAL PERFORMANCE
- *”Bryars: The Fifth Century” — Donald Nally, conductor (PRISM Quartet; The Crossing)
- “Handel: Messiah” — Andrew Davis, conductor; Noel Edison, chorus master (Elizabeth DeShong, John Relyea, Andrew Staples & Erin Wall; Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Toronto Mendelssohn Choir)
- “Mansurian: Requiem” — Alexander Liebreich, conductor; Florian Helgath, chorus master (Anja Petersen & Andrew Redmond; Münchener Kammerorchester; RIAS Kammerchor)
- “Music of the Spheres” — Nigel Short, conductor (Tenebrae)
- “Tyberg: Masses” — Brian A. Schmidt, conductor (Christopher Jacobson; South Dakota Chorale)
CHAMBER MUSIC/SMALL ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
- “Buxtehude: Trio Sonatas, Op. 1” — Arcangelo
- *”Death & the Maiden” — Patricia Kopatchinskaja & the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
- “Divine Theatre — Sacred Motets by Giaches De Wert” — Stile Antico
- “Franck, Kurtág, Previn & Schumann” — Joyce Yang & Augustin Hadelich
- “Martha Argerich & Friends — Live From Lugano 2016” — Martha Argerich & Various Artists
CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTAL SOLO
- “Bach: The French Suites” — Murray Perahia
- “Haydn: Cello Concertos” — Steven Isserlis; Florian Donderer, conductor (The Deutsch Kammerphilharmonie Bremen)
- “Levina: The Piano Concertos” — Maria Lettberg; Ariane Matiakh, conductor (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin)
- “Shostakovich: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2” — Frank Peter Zimmermann; Alan Gilbert, conductor (NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester)
- *”Transcendental” – Daniil Trifonov (below)
CLASSICAL SOLO VOCAL ALBUM
- “Bach & Telemann: Sacred Cantatas” — Philippe Jaroussky; Petra Müllejans, conductor (Ann-Kathrin Brüggemann & Juan de la Rubia; Freiburger Barockorchester)
- *”Crazy Girl Crazy — Music by Gershwin, Berg & Berio” — Barbara Hannigan (Orchestra Ludwig)
- “Gods & Monsters” — Nicholas Phan; Myra Huang, accompanist
- “In War & Peace — Harmony Through Music” — Joyce DiDonato; Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor (Il Pomo D’Oro)
- “Sviridov: Russia Cast Adrift” — Dmitri Hvorostovsky; Constantine Orbelian, conductor (St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra & Style of Five Ensemble)
CLASSICAL COMPENDIUM
- “Barbara” — Alexandre Tharaud; Cécile Lenoir, producer
- *”Higdon: All Things Majestic, Viola Concerto & Oboe Concerto” (below with the first movement of the Viola Concerto in the YouTube video at the bottom) — Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer
- “Kurtág: Complete Works for Ensemble & Choir” — Reinbert de Leeuw, conductor; Guido Tichelman, producer
- “Les Routes de l’Esclavage” — Jordi Savall, conductor; Benjamin Bleton, producer
- “Mademoiselle: Première Audience — Unknown Music of Nadia Boulanger” — Lucy Mauro; Lucy Mauro, producer
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION
- “Danielpour: Songs of Solitude” — Richard Danielpour, composer (Thomas Hampson, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
- *”Higdon: Viola Concerto” — Jennifer Higdon, composer (below)(Roberto Díaz, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
- “Mansurian: Requiem” — Tigran Mansurian, composer (Alexander Liebreich, Florian Helgath, RIAS Kammerchor & Münchener Kammerorchester)
- “Schoenberg, Adam: Picture Studies” — Adam Schoenberg, composer (Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony)
- “Zhou Tian: Concerto for Orchestra” — Zhou Tian, composer (Louis Langrée & Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)
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Classical music: Here are the classical music nominations for the 2018 Grammy Awards. They make a great holiday gift list of gives and gets
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By Jacob Stockinger
This posting is both a news story and a holiday gift guide of recordings you might like to give or get.
It features the classical music nominations for the Grammy Awards that were just announced this past week.
The winners will be announced on a live broadcast on Sunday night, Jan. 28, on CBS.
Read them and then in the COMMENT section tell us which title you think will win in a specific category and what you think of the recordings you know firsthand.
HISTORICAL ALBUMS:
- “The Goldberg Variations — the Complete Unreleased Recording Sessions June 1955” — Robert Russ, compilation producer; Matthias Erb, Martin Kistner & Andreas K. Meyer, mastering engineers (Glenn Gould)
- “Leonard Bernstein — the Composer” — Robert Russ, compilation producer; Martin Kistner & Andreas K. Meyer, mastering engineers (Leonard Bernstein)
ENGINEERED ALBUM, CLASSICAL
- “Danielpour: Songs of Solitude & War Songs” — Gary Call, engineer (Thomas Hampson, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
- “Kleiberg: Mass for Modern Man” — Morten Lindberg, engineer (Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Trondheim Vokalensemble & Trondheim Symphony Orchestra)
- “Schoenberg, Adam: American Symphony; Finding Rothko; Picture Studies” — Keith O. Johnson & Sean Royce Martin, engineers (Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony)
- “Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio” — Mark Donahue, engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
- “Tyberg: Masses” — John Newton, engineer; Jesse Brayman, mastering engineer (Brian A. Schmidt, Christopher Jacobson & South Dakota Chorale)
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, CLASSICAL
- Blanton Alspaugh
- Manfred Eicher
- David Frost
- Morten Lindberg
- Judith Sherman (below)
ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE
- “Concertos for Orchestra” — Louis Langrée, conductor (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)
- “Copland: Symphony No. 3; Three Latin American Sketches” — Leonard Slatkin, conductor (Detroit Symphony Orchestra)
- “Debussy: Images; Jeux & La Plus Que Lente” — Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
- “Mahler: Symphony No. 5” — Osmo Vänskä, conductor (Minnesota Orchestra)
- “Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio” — Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
OPERA RECORDING
- “Berg: Lulu” — Lothar Koenigs, conductor; Daniel Brenna, Marlis Petersen & Johan Reuter; Jay David Saks, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra)
- “Berg: Wozzeck” — Hans Graf, conductor; Anne Schwanewilms & Roman Trekel; Hans Graf, producer (Houston Symphony; Chorus of Students and Alumni, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University & Houston Grand Opera Children’s Chorus)
- “Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de Perles” — Gianandrea Noseda, conductor; Diana Damrau, Mariusz Kwiecień, Matthew Polenzani & Nicolas Testé; Jay David Saks, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
- “Handel: Ottone” — George Petrou, conductor; Max Emanuel Cencic & Lauren Snouffer; Jacob Händel, producer (Il Pomo D’Oro)
- “Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel” — Valery Gergiev, conductor; Vladimir Feliauer, Aida Garifullina & Kira Loginova; Ilya Petrov, producer (Mariinsky Orchestra; Mariinsky Chorus)
CHORAL PERFORMANCE
- “Bryars: The Fifth Century” — Donald Nally, conductor (PRISM Quartet; The Crossing)
- “Handel: Messiah” — Andrew Davis, conductor; Noel Edison, chorus master (Elizabeth DeShong, John Relyea, Andrew Staples & Erin Wall; Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Toronto Mendelssohn Choir)
- “Mansurian: Requiem” — Alexander Liebreich, conductor; Florian Helgath, chorus master (Anja Petersen & Andrew Redmond; Münchener Kammerorchester; RIAS Kammerchor)
- “Music of the Spheres” — Nigel Short, conductor (Tenebrae)
- “Tyberg: Masses” — Brian A. Schmidt, conductor (Christopher Jacobson; South Dakota Chorale)
CHAMBER MUSIC/SMALL ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
- “Buxtehude: Trio Sonatas, Op. 1” — Arcangelo
- “Death & the Maiden” — Patricia Kopatchinskaja & the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
- “Divine Theatre — Sacred Motets by Giaches De Wert” — Stile Antico
- “Franck, Kurtág, Previn & Schumann” — Joyce Yang & Augustin Hadelich
- “Martha Argerich & Friends — Live From Lugano 2016” — Martha Argerich & Various Artists
CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTAL SOLO
- “Bach: The French Suites” — Murray Perahia
- “Haydn: Cello Concertos” — Steven Isserlis; Florian Donderer, conductor (The Deutsch Kammerphilharmonie Bremen)
- “Levina: The Piano Concertos” — Maria Lettberg; Ariane Matiakh, conductor (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin)
- “Shostakovich: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2” — Frank Peter Zimmermann; Alan Gilbert, conductor (NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester)
- “Transcendental” – Daniil Trifonov
CLASSICAL SOLO VOCAL ALBUM
- “Bach & Telemann: Sacred Cantatas” — Philippe Jaroussky; Petra Müllejans, conductor (Ann-Kathrin Brüggemann & Juan de la Rubia; Freiburger Barockorchester)
- “Crazy Girl Crazy — Music by Gershwin, Berg & Berio” — Barbara Hannigan (Orchestra Ludwig)
- “Gods & Monsters” — Nicholas Phan; Myra Huang, accompanist
- “In War & Peace — Harmony Through Music” — Joyce DiDonato; Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor (Il Pomo D’Oro)
- “Sviridov: Russia Cast Adrift” — Dmitri Hvorostovsky; Constantine Orbelian, conductor (St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra & Style of Five Ensemble)
CLASSICAL COMPENDIUM
- “Barbara” — Alexandre Tharaud; Cécile Lenoir, producer
- “Higdon: All Things Majestic, Viola Concerto & Oboe Concerto” — Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer
- “Kurtág: Complete Works for Ensemble & Choir” — Reinbert de Leeuw, conductor; Guido Tichelman, producer
- “Les Routes de l’Esclavage” — Jordi Savall, conductor; Benjamin Bleton, producer
- “Mademoiselle: Première Audience — Unknown Music of Nadia Boulanger” — Lucy Mauro; Lucy Mauro, producer
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION
- “Danielpour: Songs of Solitude” — Richard Danielpour, composer (Thomas Hampson, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
- “Higdon: Viola Concerto” — Jennifer Higdon, composer (Roberto Díaz, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
- “Mansurian: Requiem” — Tigran Mansurian, composer (Alexander Liebreich, Florian Helgath, RIAS Kammerchor & Münchener Kammerorchester)
- “Schoenberg, Adam: Picture Studies” — Adam Schoenberg, composer (Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony)
- “Zhou Tian: Concerto for Orchestra” — Zhou Tian, composer (Louis Langrée & Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)
Tags: "Goldberg" Variations, adagio, Adam Schoenberg, Alan Gilbert, alumni, American, Arts, Augustin Hadelich, Bach, Barber, Baroque, Berg, Berio, Bernstein, Bizet, Cantata, CBS, Cello, century, Chamber music, choral music, chorus, Cincinnati, Classical music, Compact Disc, compilation, composer, concerto, contemporary, Copland, Daniil Trifonov, death, Debussy, Detroit, Dietrich Buxtehude, divine, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Early music, engineer, etude, France, Franck, French, friend, George Frideric Handel, Gershwin, gift, Glenn Gould, God, gold, golden, Grammy, guide, Handel, Haydn, Higdon, Holiday, Houston, Houston Grand Opera, instrumental, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, January, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Joyce DiDonato, Joyce Yang, Judith Sherman, Kansas City, Kleiberg, Kurtag, Latin American, Leonard Bernstein, Liszt, live, Louis Langrée, Ludwig van Beethoven, Lugano, Lulu, Madison, Mahler, maiden, man, Manfred Eicher, Mansurian, Mariinsky Theatre, mass, Mendelssohn, Messiah, Metropolitan Opera, Michael Tilson Thomas, Minnesota, modern, Monster, Mozart, Murray Perahia, Music, Nadia Boulanger, Nashville, New Music, New York City, news, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, nomination, Noseda, Oboe, opera, Orchestra, Osmo Vanska, peace, Pearl Fishers, Piano, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Previn, producer, recording, Requiem, Rice University, Richard Danielpour, Rothko, Russia, sacred, Saint Paul, San Francisco, San Francisco Symphony, Schumann, Shostakovich, sketch, Sklatkin, solitude, solo, Sonata, song, sphere, St. Petersburg, Student, Suite, symphony, Telemann, Television, theater, theatre, theme and variations, Thomas Hampson, Toronto, trio, Trondheim, TV, Tyberg, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Valery Gergiev, variations, Viola, Violin, vocal music, war, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wozzeck, year
Classical music: Who are the best pianists of all time? And which ones do you think were left off the list by Classic FM?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The British radio station and website Classic FM recently published its list of the 25 greatest pianists of all time.
Plus, the website also included samples of the playing where possible.
It is an impressive list, if pretty predictable — and heavily weighted towards modern or contemporary pianists. You might expect that a list of “all-time greats” would have more historical figures — and more women as well as more non-Western Europeans and non-Americans, especially Asians these days.
Here is a link:
http://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/instruments/piano/best-pianists-ever/
So The Ear started what turned out to be a long list of others who should at least be considered and maybe even included.
Here, then, is the question for this weekend: What do you think of the list? Which pianists do not belong on the list? And which are your favorite pianists who are not included in the compilation?
Leave your candidate or candidates in the COMMENT section with a link to a YouTube link of a favorite performance, wherever possible.
Happy listening!
Tags: Alfred Brendel, America, American, Argerich, Arrau, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Artur Rubinstein, Ashkenazy, asian, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Chamber music, Clara Schumann, Classic FM, Classical music, Claudio Arrau, concerto, contemporary, Daniel Barenboim, England, Europe, European, Franz Schubert, Glenn Gould, great, Great Britain, histiry', historical, Horowitz, Jacob Stockinger, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Ogdon, Lang Lang, Leif Ove Andsnes, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Maria Joao Pires, Martha Argerich, Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, modern, Mozart, Murray Perahia, Music, Myra Hess, Orchestra, Pianist, Piano, Radio, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, Sexism, sexist, Sonata, Stephen Hough, Sviatoslav Richter, time, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Western Europe, Western European, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, YouTube
Classical music: What’s the point of the new “Hyperpiano” if it just mars the music, frustrates the performer and alienates the audience?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Like everyone in the almost sold-out house at Mills Hall last Friday night, The Ear went to hear the wonderfully gifted UW-Madison piano virtuoso Christopher Taylor unveil his new hi-tech invention: the so-called “Hyperpiano.”
Taylor (below) patiently explained in detail how the hybrid electronic-acoustic piano was conceived and developed, and then how it worked.
Here is a link to two stories with detailed background:
https://uwmadisonschoolofmusic.wordpress.com/2016/09/13/christopher-taylor-to-debut-new-piano/
But at the risk of hurting the feelings of the brilliant and personable Taylor, The Ear has to confess: He left the event – more an experiment or demonstration than a concert – disappointed. He just doesn’t see the point. It seems a case where the idea will inevitably prove superior to the reality.
This new piano, conceived and executed by Taylor with lots of help, features a digital-like console (below) with two keyboards. The console then links up electronically to two regular acoustic concert grand pianos by means of lots of wires. Wires pass along electronic digital impulses to mechanical fingers that hit actual piano keys and makes traditional pianos play.
If the Hyperpiano sounds like some kind of Rube Goldberg contraption, well, that’s because it IS. Ingenious, yes; practical, hardly.
The piece Taylor used to demonstrate his new piano was the momentous and magnificent “Goldberg” Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach, a promising and appealing challenge for the new piano. The Ear has heard Taylor play this music before, and it was a memorable experience.
Not this time.
A great instrument is supposed to make playing easier, to bring both the performer and the audience closer to the music. But this new piano interfered with both and did just the opposite. It put you on edge, just waiting for the next thing to go wrong and get fixed and then go wrong again. It made no sense, and little beauty.
Clearly the Hyperpiano – more accurately dubbed Frankenpiano by Taylor’s students — is a technological curiosity that is still a work-in-progress, with lots of snags and flaws that became apparent during 2-1/2 hours.
But even had it worked perfectly, The Ear asks: What is the point?
Certainly it makes for an interesting electrical engineering problem to solve, one that eats up lots of time, thought, energy and money. But why have three $100,000 concert grand pianos and a custom-built piano console all on the stage when a single traditional piano would do the job just fine?
Single-keyboard pianos have brought us many memorable performances of the Goldbergs – including those by Rosalyn Tureck, Glenn Gould, Andras Schiff, Jeremy Denk, Murray Perahia and Angela Hewitt among others, to say nothing of Taylor himself.
And on stage was an old one-of-a-kind, two-keyboard Steinway that Taylor has used before to fine effect, rather like the two-manual harpsichord that Bach originally wrote the music for and that facilitates the difficult cross-hand passages.
Despite distractions, Taylor played the Bach with total commitment and enthusiasm as well as with his back to the audience, as piano recitals used to be played before the young Franz Liszt turned the piano sideways to show off his heart-throb profile.
Yet the misfiring of electrodes plus an unending loud chirp or tweet and the uneven pistons or clunky mini-jackhammers (below) that hit the keyboards as artificial “fingers” just meant a lot of dropped notes and, for the most part, a very choppy reading of Bach’s great music that stymied both the performer and the listeners.
Compounding the performance was that Taylor took all the repeats, which often just doubled the frustration. How The Ear wishes Taylor had played just the first half on the Hyperpiano and then, for comparison, switched to a regular piano or to the two-keyboard Steinway.
True, at the end the audience gave Taylor well earned applause and a prolonged standing ovation. But The Ear suspects it was more for his perseverance, patience, good humor and stupendous effort than for the music itself or the new piano. He bets only a very few listeners would pay to go back to hear another recital on the Hyperpiano.
Will Taylor continue to work on improving the terrifically complex Hyperpiano? Yes, one suspects that he will and one wishes him success. But wouldn’t all that time and effort be better spent learning new music and performing it?
The Ear says: Enough hype about the Hyperpiano!
It’s time for a great musician to get back to the music.
Did you go hear the Hyperpiano?
What do you think?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: "Goldberg" Variations, András Schiff, Angela Hewitt, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Christopher Taylor, Classical music, digital, electronic, experiment, Glenn Gould, Hyperpiano, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Liszt, Madison, Murray Perahia, Music, Piano, Steinway, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin
Classical music: This will be a busy and historic week at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
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By Jacob Stockinger
This week will be a busy one at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, which is now funded in large part by the Mead Witter Foundation.
The big event is the long-awaited groundbreaking for the new performance center. That, in turn, will be celebrated with three important and appealing concerts.
Here is the lineup:
FRIDAY
From 4 to 5:30 p.m., an official and public groundbreaking ceremony for the new Hamel Music Center will take place at the corner of Lake Street and University Avenue. (Below is an architect’s rendering of the completed building.)
At 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, pianist Christopher Taylor (below) will perform the “Goldberg” Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach on the two-keyboard “Hyperpiano” that he has invented and refined. (You can hear the opening aria theme of the “Goldberg” Variations played by Glenn Gould in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For more information about the concert and the innovative piano, visit:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/2016/09/13/pianist-christopher-taylor-to-debut-new-piano/
Tickets are $18 and are available at the Wisconsin Union Theater box office. Last The Ear heard, the concert was close to a sell-out.
SATURDAY
At 7 p.m. in Mills Hall, UW-Madison faculty bassoonist Marc Vallon (below, in a photo by James Gill), who studied and worked with the recently deceased French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, will lead a FREE “Breaking Ground” concert of pioneering music from the 17th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
Composers represented include Ludwig van Beethoven, Michelangelo Rossi, Alexander Scriabin, Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, Helmut Lachenmann and Morton Feldman.
For more information and the complete program, go to:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/breaking-ground-with-marc-vallon-and-sound-out-loud/
![Marc Vallon 2011 James Gill (baroque & modern)[2]](https://welltempered.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/marc-vallon-2011-james-gill-baroque-modern2.jpg)
SUNDAY
At 3 p.m. in Mills Hall, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet will give a FREE concert.
For more information about the group and the program, go to:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/the-wisconsin-brass-quintet/
Wisconsin Brass Quintet
Tags: "Goldberg" Variations, architect, aria, Arts, Baroque, Bassoon, Beethoven, brass, Brass quintet, Cello, Chamber music, Christopher Taylor, Classical music, composer, conductor, Early music, French music, Glenn Gould, groundbreaking, Helmut Lachenmann, Iannis Xenakis, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Cage, Keyboard, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mead Witter, Michelangelo Rossi, Morton Feldman, New Music, Piano, Pierre Boulez, quintet, Scriabin, Sonata, theme, theme and variations, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin Brass Quintet, Wisconsin Union Theater, YouTube
Classical music: CAN YOU NAME THAT TUNE? The Ear did at the movies — and passes it along
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By Jacob Stockinger
It’s officially winter.
Christmas and other holidays except New Year’s are over or close to over.
Winter break is taking place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other schools.
All that makes it a good time to see movies.
So there The Ear was, sitting in one of the cinemas at Sundance 608 on the near west wide in Hilldale Mall.
Before the movie and the previews began, lovely piano music was playing.
What is that? someone asked quietly.
The Ear wishes that maybe Sundance could find a way to show the composer, work and performer on some section of the screen that also shows advertisements.
That’s because The Ear has also heard other works there by Johann Sebastian Bach as well as a mazurka and a nocturne by Frederic Chopin. And he wants other movie-goers to know what they are hearing.
Anyway, this time it was a beautiful but rarely heard piece that The Ear recognized right away.
It is the transcription or reworking in B minor by Alexander Siloti (below) of the prelude in E minor from Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach.
It is a gorgeously poignant Romantic piece by an accomplished Russian musician and pianist.
It is so hauntingly beautiful.
And it is useful as well.
It is really the same piece of music repeated twice. That makes it serve as a small and slow etude, a study in voicing of first the right hand and then the left hand.
The piece also makes the player coordinate and strengthen the fourth and fifth fingers on the right hand, and execute wide arpeggios in the left hand with an emphasis on the thumb as the carrier of a melody.
And like so much of Bach’s music, it is also an etude in the evenness of all those endless sixteenth notes — the stream that the word “Bach” means in German. What a fitting name for the composer whose flow of music was endless!
All in all, it is a great little miniature that deserves to be learned and performed more frequently. It has even been used by some major piano competition winners as a calming change-of-pace piece, a way to get into or out of the zone.
Just listen to it in the hands of a master, as the late Emil Gilels plays it in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, where Siloti himself was a teacher of the famous pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff (who is seen below on the right with Siloti on the left).
First, here is the Bach original played by Glenn Gould:
And here is the live performance of Siloti’s reworking and transcription by Gilels:
What do you think of the work and the performance (read the listener comments on YouTube)?
Do you have favorite Bach transcriptions for the piano?
Other classical music you hear in movie theaters?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Alexander Siloti, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Chopin, Christmas, cinema, Classical music, Emil Gilels, film, Frédéric Chopin, Glenn Gould, Holiday, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Madison, Moscow, Moscow Conservatory, movie, Movie theater, Movies, New Year's, Piano, Prelude, Romanticism, Russia, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, The Well-Tempered Clavier, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: This week brings some appealing solo recitals and chamber music performances for piano, violin, cello, guitar and piano trio.
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By Jacob Stockinger
This coming week has some big musical events, including the Madison Opera’s production of Giacomo Puccini’s opera “La Bohème” on Friday night and Sunday afternoon; and the annual two days of fall concerts by the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras on Saturday and Sunday. Both of those events will be previewed at length later this week.
But there is also some very appealing music on a smaller scale, including a solo piano recital, a violin and piano recital, a guitar recital, and a chamber music concert that features piano trios.
Here are the four stand-out events:
TUESDAY NIGHT
On Tuesday night at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, Canadian-born pianist Joel Hastings will give a FREE guest artist concert.
His program features five transcriptions by Franz Liszt (1811-1886): Il m’aimait tant – Mélodie; Die Gräberinsel der Fürsten zu Gotha – Lied von Herzog Ernst, zu Sachsen-Coburg- Gotha; Spanisches Ständchen – Melodie von Graf Leó Festetic Romance du Comte Mikaïl Wielhorsky; Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth – Elegie/ Also included is piano music by Jean Roger-Ducasse (1873-1954) including Barcarolle No. 1, Chant de l’Aube, Sonorités and Rythmes; and Twelve Etudes, Op. 8, by Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915).
Joel Hastings (below), who teaches at Florida State University in Tallahassee, was the winner of the 2006 Eighth International Web Concert Hall Competition and the 1993 International Bach Competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. After his performance at the 10th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, one reporter designated Hastings the “audience favorite” while another declared, “the kinetic fingers of this young Canadian reminded me strongly of his late countryman, Glenn Gould.”
Hastings will also give a FREE and PUBLIC master class on Wednesday, Nov. 11, from noon to 2 in Morphy Hall.
For more information about events at the UW-Madison including student performances, visit:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/events/
WEDNESDAY
The UW-Madison Guitar Ensemble (below) will perform a FREE concert at 7:30 p.m. in Morphy Hall under director Javier Calderon. Sorry, The Ear has received nothing specific about the program.
Undergraduates Erik Anderson, left, and Anthony Caulkins perform a duet during a UW Guitar Ensemble music concert in Mills Hall at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during spring on April 17, 2013. The photograph was created for #UWRightNow, a 24-hour multimedia and social-network project. (Photo by Jeff Miller/UW-Madison)
FRIDAY
At 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, Soh-Hyun Park Altino (below, in a photo by Caroline Bittencourt), the new professor of violin at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, will make her local debut. (She is seen below teaching in a photo by Michael R. Anderson.)
Altino (left), with freshman violinist Lydia Schweitzer, has developed a specialty in addressing overuse injuries.
Her must-hear program features the Sonata No. 3 in C Major for Solo Violin, BWV 1005, by Johann Sebastian Bach (which you can hear performed by Hilary Hahn in a YouTube video at the bottom); the Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano by Johannes Brahms; the Romance, Op. 23, by American composer Amy Beach; and the Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano by American composer Charles Ives. UW professor of collaborative piano Martha Fischer will perform with her. Admission is $12 for the public; free for all students.
For more information, visit these sites:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/debut-faculty-concert-soh-hyun-park-altino-violin/
For a Q&A:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/2015/07/31/welcoming-new-faculty-violinist-prof-soh-hyun-park-altino/
For a fine background story and preview about a “world-class talent” from Isthmus:
http://www.isthmus.com/music/violin-professor-soh-hyun-park-altino/
SATURDAY
This Saturday afternoon, Nov. 14, at 3 p.m., St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (below), located at 1833 Regent Street in Madison, will host a performance by participants in The Leonard Sorkin International Institute of Chamber Music.
Parking is on the street and admission is a free-will offering.
The Leonard Sorkin International Institute of Chamber Music (ICM) offers a concentration in chamber music performance for advanced level graduate students and young professional musicians. The program is based at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is directed by violin professor Bernard Zinck.
The program prepares students for careers in performance with a combination of weekly masterclasses, coaching and private lessons as well as financial and facility support. ICM students enjoy a rehearsal space and office dedicated to their use, mentors on self-management or advice on seeking professional management, and contest travel finances in addition to generous fellowships which pay tuition plus a modest stipend.
Typically, individual students form chamber ensembles such as string quartets or piano trios, give one group recital each semester, and use the repertoire from these recitals in outreach presentations, concerts and competitions.
The program to be performed at St. Andrew’s is: Piano Trio, Op. 33, in E-flat major by Louise Farrenc; Sonata for Cello and Violin by Maurice Ravel; and Piano Trio No. 3 in C Major, Op. 87, by Johannes Brahms.
For more information and biographies of the performers, go to an scroll down:
http://www.standrews-madison.org/saint-andrews-concert-series.html
Tags: arrangement, Arts, Bach, Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, background, barcarolle, Baroque, Bernard Zinck, Canada, Cello, Chamber music, classical guitar, Classical music, etude, Fines Arts Quartet, Glenn Gould, guitar, Hilary Hahn, International Bach Competition, International Web Concert Hall Competition, Isthmus, Ives, Jacob Stockinger, Javier Calderon, Jean Roger-Ducasse, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Kennedy Center, La bohème, Leonard Sorkin, Leonard Sorkin Institute for Chamber Music, Liszt, Louise Farrenc, Madison, Madison Opera, Milwaukee, Music, opera, Piano Trio, preview, Ravel, Romance, Scriabin, Soh-Hyun Park Altino, Sonata, transcription, Undergraduate education, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Milwaukee, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Violin, Washington D.C., Wisconsin, YouTube
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